With the increase of gambling at gaming venues has come increased competition between gaming venues to obtain a larger share of the total gambling spend. Gaming venue operators have therefore continuously looked for new variations and types of games in order to attract both new and return customers to their venues.
In response to this need, suppliers of gaming devices and systems have attempted to provide the sought after variety, while still developing games that comply with the relevant regulations in the jurisdiction of the gaming venue operator. Suppliers of gaming devices therefore are faced with restrictions on the types of games and gaming apparatus that are allowable, both in terms of the prevailing regulations and in terms of providing a return on investment to the gaming venue operators.
In addition, it is important that a player be able to understand the operation of a game quickly so that the player can start to quickly play the game and therefore extract maximum entertainment from the game.
Some games offered on gaming machines are spinning reel games, in which one the symbols on one or more reels is a special symbol. An example of a special symbol is a WILD symbol, which is a symbol that substitutes for other symbols to potentially form a winning outcome in the game. After the reels have been spun, the symbols are evaluated for one or more winning combinations of symbols. If a WILD symbol appears in a location that is evaluated for a winning combination, then it can substitute for other symbols in order to form a winning combination. Accordingly, the appearance of one or more WILD symbols is important to a player of the gaming machine, as it is more likely a win will occur.
Games with WILD symbols or other special symbols may have an increased attraction to players. It is therefore important that new games incorporating WILD symbols are developed and that they are provided to the player in an effective manner.